Phil Stacey column: Football friendship formed between arch rivals Swampscott, Marblehead

Jun. 30—LYNN — One could've been forgiven if they believed their eyes were deceiving them.

When the North all-stars came out in a three-back set for their first offensive series Wednesday night at Manning Field, there was George Percy of Marblehead at one running back slot. At the other was the star tailback of his school's arch enemy, Xaviah Bascon of neighboring Swampscott. And the third guy in that trio — quarterback Cam O'Brien — also calls Swampscott home.

Marblehead and Swampscott guys — bitter gridiron rivals for more than 110 years — not only coexisting, but actually thriving?

Try this on for size: the three of them actually drove to the game together.

"We're good friends now," Percy said while standing alongside O'Brien postgame, both basking in the glow of North's 49-12 shellacking of their South counterparts in the 60th Agganis All-Star Game. "I came into (practice) week thinking, 'Am I even going to like these guys?', but they love football just like me. It worked out great."

Like salty fries and a sweet tasting chocolate milkshake, this unexpected combination worked perfectly. The fact that both teams won their respective Super Bowl championships last fall — Marblehead in Division 3, Swampscott in Division 5 — helped the respect factor both ways, too.

The explosive Bascon earned North MVP honors after catching two of O'Brien's passes for 65 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown; ran back a kickoff 93 yards his second score to make it 28-6 in the second quarter; and added 42 yards rushing on just six carries.

"I saw (Bishop Fenwick's) Jason Romans running in front of me, made a cut off him, saw the opening and just went," Bascon said of his special teams touchdown.

Percy, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound wrecking ball with speed, has three inches and 30 pounds on Bascon, but he was equally effective out of the North backfield. He picked up 89 yards on just eight totes of the football, including a pair of 17-yard runs, one for 14, another for 13, and one more for 11.

Before heading off to a post-graduate year at the Salisbury School in Connecticut, he also found paydirt on a 5-yard power move on his team's opening sequence.

"There's no one better than George. Adding him to our offense was just crazy," said O'Brien.

"It was amazing having a fast, physical guy like George in the backfield with me," added Bascon, whose next stop is Phillips Exeter Academy. "He's unbelievable. It was tough playing against him on Thanksgiving Day, but definitely a pleasure having him on my side."

No shrinking violet himself at 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, O'Brien got in on the fun with 35 rushing yards and a 1-yard TD plunge on a half-dozen carries. He added 73 yards passing on limited throws and ran back an interception 24 yards to close out the scoring.

"We talked about our backfield all leading up to this game, how it was going to be really tough for the South to tackle me, George and Xaviah," said O'Brien.

North head coach Bobby Serino talked postgame about how quickly Percy became acclimated with his new Agganis teammates from the next town over.

"Dubes (Swampscott's Jason Dubiel) is down practicing with the linemen one day and George is with the skill guys, and they came together in the middle of the field," said Serino. "They bumped fists together, and that was that. They were all best friends from there."

Running a simplified version of the Swampscott playbook didn't present any problems for Percy, either.

"It's not hard when you're lined up next to Cam," he said. "He made it easy, telling me me what to do. He knows that playbook inside and out."

There were others, particularly on the offensive line, who helped ensure that their backfield mates thrived. Peter Gardikas, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound Peabody High force, and Danvers' 6-foot-2, 275-pound Evan Glynos — who threw a monster block in the flat to spring Bascon for his TD reception — were obvious standouts in this regard.

"Glynos came back to the sidelines saying when he was running after (the South defender) the kid went, 'Oh man'," O'Brien chuckled.

"It was an amazing block," said Bascon. "I was telling our coaches, 'You guys are the best coaches, to be able to take a brand new line in a week-and-a-half and develop and teach them like that. They're unmatched."

So was this one time only backfield trio. Bascon and O'Brien were the bread, Percy the filling inside ... and together, they sandwiched the South team Wednesday night.

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